Tulsa Athletic Football Team Suspended for 2024 Season | News

TULSA, Okla. – FOX23 spoke with one of the owners of the Tulsa Athletic Soccer Club on Monday following the announcement Friday that the team was suspended from the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL).

FOX23 reported Tulsa Athletic announced Friday that the NPSL has suspended them for the 2024 season for unknown reasons.

Tulsa Athletic posted a letter from the NPSL board on X, formerly Twitter. The letter states that the team is suspended with immediate effect and the games scheduled for this weekend have been canceled.

Tulsa Athletic looked to defend its NPSL national title after winning the 2023 league. Tulsa Athletic were also regional champions in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Sonny Dalesandro, one of the owners of Tulsa Athletic, spoke with FOX23 on Monday.

He said the team was informed Friday that it would not play in the 2024 season, two days before its scheduled home opener on Sunday, May 19. They were not given a reason for the ban.

FOX23 and Tulsa Athletic have both since reached out to NPSL and received the same statement, which did not provide an explanation.

The official statement from the NPSL can be found here:

Last year, NPSL did not allow Tulsa Athletic to play at its home stadium at Hicks Park due to concerns about field and stadium quality.

Tulsa has been a member of the league for 11 years now and the team won its championship at RSU last year.

The team said it took legal action against the league in April for its “unwillingness to work out or provide a path for our home field.” No one could confirm or deny that this connection exists.

The soccer team said it just wanted some sort of communication or reason to keep going and compete, but said it hasn’t received any.

The team said it will soon announce a non-league competition schedule for this season with the teams that have agreed to play against them at Hicks Park.

The team released a full statement:

“It is with great disappointment that we must announce that we will not be able to defend our 2023 NPSL National Championship. The attached suspension letter from the NPSL Board of Directors does not provide any specific reason for Tulsa Athletic’s suspension.”

We have worked tirelessly and in good faith over the last few weeks to reach an agreement with the league, but this was the end result. Our lawsuit against the league remains pending.

Although this decision was made to us less than a week before the first game of the season, we remain committed to bringing elite soccer to Tulsa and Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park.

We are sorry that the NPSL board took away this opportunity from a team of dedicated players who came to defend a national championship. We expect to announce games for the summer soon.

We will continue to strive to do the best for our fans, our players and our club. Although we do not accept this decision and find it completely unfair, we remain committed to playing entertaining football this summer.

Best regards in football,

Sonny Dalesandro, Dr. Thomas Kern, Alfred Mockett”

To support Tulsa Athletic, Minneapolis City SC has the “Save Tulsa Tea.’ All proceeds go to the team’s legal fund.

To pre-order a shirt, click HERE.